Ann Arbor School Board Eliminates 7th Hour Fee For High School Students

A plan to charge Ann Arbor high school students a $100 fee to take an optional 7th hour class has been dropped. The Board of Education last night voted unanimously to drop the fee for the coming academic year. As WEMU's Andrew Cluley reports, the board is sending the fee proposal back to its planning committee for further review.

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Facing an ACLU lawsuit, the Ann Arbor School Board drops plan to charge high school students a 100-dollar fee for taking a 7th hour class.

The Ann Arbor School Board has backtracked on a plan to charge high school students a $100 fee to take a seventh hour class this school year. The plan led the American Civil Liberties Union to file suit against the district on behalf of two students, alleging the plan violated the state constitution. School board members say they believe the district would prevail in the lawsuit, but want to spend more time evaluating the proposal. The plan will now go back to the board's planning committee.

In the meantime, the district may have students who opted against taking a 7th hour class because of the fee. Board President Deb Mexicotte says those students will be afforded the opportunity to sign-up for those classes now. Given the loss of planned revenue from the 7th hour student fee, the district will need to use about $100,00 of fund balance.